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High on my list of irritants is red-light-running cars that drive through crosswalks while I am attempting to walk across them. A frequent occurance as I am walking around in NY, it annoys me to no end. This has caused me to develop a certain habit which not only gives me great satisfaction, but also discourages drivers from repeating this behavior (i hope). This habit involves reaching out as a car passes inches from me in the crosswalk and slapping the side mirror of the car. Usually this results in a loud noise, the mirror folding into the car and a startled driver. Now, this past weekend, Lacey was in town visiting. (which was a great deal of fun) Lacey, Naseem and I were walking around midtown on our way to MOMA after spending some time lounging in central park. We were waiting at an intersection when the light changed, and we got a walk signal. I started across the crosswalk when a taxi ran the light and passed in front of me. As I am apt to do, I hit his mirror as he went by. This time, instead of folding in, the mirror fell off the car. The taxi stopped. I decided it was a good time to continue walking and went past the corner. The taxi driver jumped out of his car and ran after me, catching up and grabbing my arm. He started swearing something incomprehensible at me and I yanked my arm away from him. After telling him he that he ran a red light and hit me in the crosswalk, I turned away and continued walking. He grabbed my arm once more but I shrugged it off and kept going. I knew that if i just kept moving away from his taxi, he would be forced to choose between yelling at me and abandoning his taxi in the middle of the street in Manhattan. And so he was forced to retreat and I continued on my way with a somewhat shocked Lacey and Naseem. Later as we were walking, I looked down and noticed that the inside of my elbow was all scratched up and slightly bloody from the taxi drivers grabbing my arm. Nothing like a good Battle scar :)

Back in September, I managed to injure my back while moving in to our apartment in Brooklyn. It turns out that repeatedly carrying 150 lbs up stairs by yourself isn’t a good idea. Additionally, it is not a good idea to take air conditioners out of windows after suffering an injury moving. Nor is it smart to crouch, hide, and ambush nephews after those 2 injuries. Bike riding, also has a negative effect. Anyways, after 7 months of repeated injuries and pain I went to see a new doctor to find out what was really going on. I had told my first doctor that I wanted an x-ray and MRI, but he had refused. After informing him that I have 2.5 doctor-in-laws, and that it would be foolish of me to try to go home without testing, he told me that he knew exactly what was wrong with me (herniated disc) and didn’t need, or want, to do any testing. The very first thing my new doctor wanted to do was an x-ray. This x-ray showed that I have a fractured vertebrae in my lumbar spine. Next thing he did was send me to get an MRI. It was very relaxing. I had to lay perfectly still for 30 minutes in a chamber that must be terrible for the claustrophobic. There were only a few inches on each side of me. I imagined that i was in deep freeze on a long space voyage…. :) What I didnt expect, was how very loud the machine was. Despite that I almost fell asleep several times, only to be awakened by the technician announcing over a speaker how long the next phase of the test would be. Dam him for ruining my nap, haha. I scanned two of the MRI films and have them below. Basically they show a herniated disc. Luckily, no serious damage from my fracture (though i should have given myself more time to heal). Physical therapy for a few months, and I should be 100%.

I’ve been looking forward to this show ever since I spotted the first ad for it on the subway. One of the biggest auto shows in the world, many concepts are unveiled here for the first time. Every manufacturer makes an impressive showing. Except, of course, Buick. They don’t have anything impressive. Jeep was there with a free ride through a constructed obstacle course of tree stumps, logs and huge inclines. Subaru had hydraulic rally simulators. Bentley had cars so classy you couldn’t get close enough to spit on. Hummer was burning a pile of logs to simulate their effect on the environment. Chevy had a Corvette suspended from the ceiling. BMW had free t-shirts. It was fun. See the pictures:

I was walking down the street in midtown when I came across this fantastic mailbox. I have a whole new respect for the USPS now. Apparently, this is part of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars celebration. In addition to a few mailboxes like this one, there will also be a Star Wars stamp. Vote on what it will be here

I have finally gotten around to ripping our wedding video from DVD to avi. It is about 700mb, if you have a good connection you should be able to pull it down at about 75-200 kbs in about 1-2 hours. I will also rerip it at a lower resolution for a smaller file size later. Get it here. Right click and save as to prevent your media player from trying to open it remotely.

This article basically says that surgeons that play video games are better at surgery. It has inspired me to send my resume to hospitals to work as a specialist. I’ll just come in, do the laparoscopic camera thing, get paid, and get out. Minimal knowledge necessary, just superior hand-eye coordination in abstract environments represented on a video screen. Any takers?

This morning I went to the offices of EDAW and signed an offer letter. I am their new IT guy for the NYC office. After a few months with t-mobile, I am back in the computer biz : ) I’ve been looking for a tech job since before I started with t-mobile. After a slow initial search, in the last couple of weeks several promising leads culminated into offers from 3 companies last week. Luckily, the one that offered me the most money was also the one that had the best vibe, making for an easy choice. I am not sad to lead t-mobile. Not that I had a bad time there, the holiday season certainly makes for lucrative commisions, and I made some good friends. But, I am glad to leave retail behind (again). Anyways, I get the next 11 days off, and then i start my new job.

I’ve noticed when riding in cars with my friends and family that very few people properly configure their mirrors. Especially side mirrors. It seems that most people point their side mirrors straight down the side of the car. As a result, they have duplicate coverage of areas behind the car, and dont see areas next to the car. To compensate, people peer over their shoulders when changing lanes. That really isnt necessary, when the mirrors are properly setup only a slight turn of the head is necessary to check directly next to the car. I made a little diagram to illustrate proper configuration. The left mirror in the diagram is badly configured, the right side is good. The idea is to see as far to the left and the right as possible. You should be able to watch a car that is passing you transition from the rear view mirror into your side view mirror. Try it out, it’ll make lane changes easier.